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by Riki Fudo, October 16th, 1998 
I'm sitting in this small tea house in Kobe, across from quite possibly the
cutest 18 year old I've ever met in my life. She's smiling at me as
she shows me the batch of photos she just got back from the developer."And this is me and one-san at Madison Square Garden!! It was the biggest thrill of her life to wrestle there!! I was so happy for her!!" says Keiko Sakura, the 18 year old wunderkind of the R*NGSTARS promotion. The picture she points to shows her and older sister Rekka Sakura standing front of the legendary arena, the arena where ALL Japanese stars hope to wrestle, even if it is just once. Keiko Sakura is the perfect blend of her famous sister Rekka and even more notorious brother Tetsuo (who wrestles for Super Japan as Super Tengu). She seems focused towards her debut match yet her eyes gleam with excitement as she grabs the latest issues of both "Shonen Jump" and "BIG Comic Spirits", magazines dedicated to young people and manga. "Shueshia (publisher of Shonen Jump) approached my father and uncle about a manga story based on their careers once. But after the death of Tezuka (Osamu Tezuka, the beloved "Manga no Kami-sama" in Japan) they just felt it wouldn't be worth it." So now all the children of the late Masami Matsumoto, the fabled "Fire Ninja", are wrestling. For Rekka and Tetsuo it was not a hard decision. Actually, it wasn't for Keiko either. The only thing that kept her from training with her family was her mother. "Oka-san was so against me entering the business. After Oto-san died in America in '89 she was determined to not let me step in the ring," Sakura recalls, "I was a good girl, I went about my school studies and hung out with my friends. I went to watch wrestling at Korakuen Hall so I could see my sister and brother compete. But I wanted something more. " That something more came in the form of Columbia University. Keiko won a scholarship there and it was there that she would sneak off on weekends to Brooklyn, New York to train with distant family relative, Mike Malone. "Mike is married to my cousin Maiko," Keiko says with a smile, "when I told him I wanted to learn the trade he was amused. I mean here was this little 17 year old begging to be trained, the only thing he feared was my mother finding out." As I'm told all this I'm amazed at how quickly this girl's attention shifts so suddenly. We go from record store, to video store, to gift shop until this dynamo of energy looks at her watch. Never have I seen someone's eyes bulge so large. "OH NO!! I'll be late for dinner with mom!!", she says excitedly. This is the girl who while shopping devoured several ice cream cones, a bag of chips and a cheeseburger. I am baffled as to how she maintains her 118 pound weight. "Gomen ne Fudo-san, I have to catch the train. If I'm late for family dinner Oka-san will kill me!!" I tell her to get going. I figure if this kid is as energetic in the ring as she is in real life, then the boys at and girls at R*S will have one hell of a superstar on their hands. I know I'll be watching her first match eagerly. Statistics Name: Keiko Sakura (Keiko Matsumoto) Born: December 12th, 1980 Height: 5'5 (5'6 in wrestling boots) Weight: 118 pounds Hobbies: Jogging, Reading Manga, Cooking Signature Moves: Spinning Angel Drop (Skytwister Press) , Rolling Heaven Kick (Running Koppo Kick) Immediate Goal: Establish herself as rising talent Future Goals: To eventually tag with Misae Suzuki, Win the Japan National Women's title 
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